19th
Sunday after Pentecost / Year B
Amos
5:6-7, 10-15; Psalm 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark
Pastor
Gayle M. Pope
It’s
Not Easy Being Poor
“Good teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?”
That’s the question asked of Jesus by the man in today’s
gospel story from Mark. The same story
is told in the gospel of Matthew, where the man is said to be young, and in
Luke, where he is said to be a ruler – hence we often hear of the person in
this story as the rich, young ruler.
What is this rich young man really asking? He is a sincere and earnest young man – the
type who tries very hard to do the right thing.
He is Jewish. He knows the commandments and says he has always kept
them.
Fellow Jews in his day would have seen him as being
blessed by God – as walking in God’s favor.
That was the assumption of Judaism in those days – wealth was a sign of
God’s favor.
So, this young man had a lot going for him. He was an
achiever. He had material possessions
and comfort and security and esteem – all those things we think should make us
happy. And yet, he knew something was missing.
He knew there had to be more to life than just what was here and now.
So, he was looking to eternity and he had concluded
that Jesus – this “good teacher” must have the answer he was looking for. What
must I do to inherit eternal life?”
This is a lot like people in our day asking, “What do
I have to do in order to get to heaven?”
Isn’t that the big question in life?
There’s an old Peggy Lee song where she talks about
different experiences in life and ends up every time asking the question, “Is
that all there is?”
It seems that whether life is good or life is
horrible, we end up looking around and concluding there must be something more
– and somehow we know it must have something to do with God. We are hard-wired to look heavenward for
answers.
So we’re interested in the rich young man’s question
because it is really our question, too. What’s
it going to take for us to get into heaven?
Jesus’ answer is not encouraging – once he gets
around to it. But before he even answers
he says, “Why do you call me good? No one
is good but God alone.” Why does he
say that? It’s a clue – a window on what
is to come.
The young man is concerned about being “good enough”
and Jesus is establishing that no one is “good enough” – only God is truly
good.
But then comes the next part of the
conversation. Jesus is playing into the
man’s logic – his perspective that his works can save him. “You know the commandments,” he said and named several of
them. “I’ve kept them all since I was young,” the man responded.
Check! He is getting encouraged. He is going to get the stamp of approval. Jesus
looked at him and loved him and delivered the big disappointment:
“You lack one thing; go, sell what you own,
and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then
come, follow me.”
We’re told that the young man was shocked and went
away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Why was he shocked? Why was he
grieving? Did he think, “There’s no way
I can do that and so I guess I won’t inherit eternal life?” Did he think, “Ok – I guess I’ll have to do
this and so he was grieving the loss of his possessions in advance? We don’t
really know.
What does Jesus say about it? “Jesus looked around and said to his
disciples, “How hard it will be for those
who have wealth to enter the
This time the disciples
were shocked. They thought the rich were
first in line for the
It’s interesting to note that these three phrases:
“inherit eternal life,” “enter the
So, pay close attention to what Jesus says next. “He
looked at them and said, “For mortals it
is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Therein lies the good news. For mortals, it is impossible, but not for
God. We CANNOT be good enough. Only God is good. And only God makes it possible for us to
inherit eternal life.
Why should that be hard for a wealthy person to
accept? Because wealth gives us a false
sense of self-sufficiency. And, make no
mistake, ALL of us would fall into the category of the wealthy in comparison to
the rest of the world.
According to a website called the Global Rich List,
if you make $12,000 a year, you are among the top 13% richest people in the
world. If you make $20,000 a year,
you’re in the top 11%. An annual salary
of $40,000 puts you in the top 3%.
Jesus is warning us that our wealth – our
possessions, our money, our stuff – preoccupies us and turns us away from
God. It’s true. Just go with me on this.
We know that we are saved by our faith in Jesus,
don’t we? We know that it’s not about
what we do and how good we are. I hope
you know that. Faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection is all that is
required. If you believe that, you ARE
going to heaven! You can count on it.
It’s a promise from God who never breaks a promise.
And isn’t that a relief? Whew! If
it’s not about what we do – if we can’t do anything to save ourselves – that
means that we really DON’T have to sell everything and give it to the poor in
order to get to heaven. Goody. We get to keep our stuff! Isn’t that great? But wait a minute.
If we believe that the here and now is NOT all there
is. If we believe that our life with God
in Christ here and forever is all that really matters, why are we so happy that
we can keep our “stuff?” If our “stuff”
isn’t that important, why do we hold on to it so tight?
What if Jesus really DID say to you, right here,
right now, “Sell everything you have and give it to the poor and come follow
me?” Could you do it? Would you walk away sad like the man in the
story?
Shoot! I
consider myself a pretty good “giver.” I’ve gotten into the “habit” of tithing,
but then here comes this e-mail from World Vision asking for MORE help for
starving children and I resist – haven’t I done enough? I think. I still have a hard time giving anything more
to a charity that’s outside of my usual habitual giving.
I have a whole house of furniture next door that I
don’t really need, but if someone suggested I give it all away, I would start
thinking of all the reasons I shouldn’t do that.
Praise the Lord that Jesus has done what is required
for me and for you to inherit eternal life. Just the thought of giving
something away lets me know how selfish I really am and how much I need Jesus.
But this gospel story doesn’t really let us off so
easy, does it? If we know we’re saved, why
does it bother us? Why does it convict
us?
Because our faith isn’t ONLY about getting to
heaven. Our new life in Christ is not
just about what happens after we die. It
is about how we LIVE here and now. Our
dependence on our “stuff” and on our “works” and on our “self” is all part of
our old life in the flesh.
That’s not who we ARE anymore once we have received
salvation. That is SIN. And we know it. And if we have any openness for Jesus in our
hearts at all, the Holy Spirit won’t let us rest peacefully in sin.
The degree to which we are turned toward things of
the flesh, is the degree to which we will find ourselves lacking in this
life.
“You lack one thing,” Jesus said to the rich
man. Only ONE thing? Well, it was a big thing.
Jesus wants all of us. If the prospect of selling everything you own
to follow Jesus disturbs you just a bit, then that just goes to show you that
sin is alive and well in your heart.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to go
out and sell everything you own. I don’t
know if Jesus is asking that of you right now.
But if he was, I hope you COULD do it.
And I’m sure he’s asking SOMETHING of you right now. I’m sure there’s SOMETHING the Holy Spirit is
bugging you about letting go of. Jesus
works on us little by little.
He looks at us and
loves us and shows us what is lacking.
And maybe we walk away sad. But
he lets us come back. Trust him. Look what he said to the disciples:
“Truly I tell you,
there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will
not receive a hundredfold now in this age — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers
and children, and fields, with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal
life.”
You cannot out give God. That’s good news for eternity, and it’s good
news for here and now, too!